406 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 195 7 



garden, as well as in the household itself, that it is not feasible to 

 discuss them all in the present paper. 



Certain bamboo articles are indispensable to almost every kind of 

 farm work. There is hardly a single activity which does not involve, 

 sooner or later, directly or indirectly, the use of baskets or trays. In 

 many areas bamboo carrying poles are an inseparable adjunct to the use 

 of baskets, whenever there is something to be moved from place to 

 place. In the culture and harvesting of field crops the following bam- 

 boo devices and appurtenances come into play at one time or another : 

 Fences, irrigation wheels and irrigation pipe, well sweeps, handles 

 for hoes, rice-cultivating rakes and other tools, flails (pi. 7, fig. 2) and 

 threshing boards, and demountable grain bins made of narrow strips 

 of bamboo matting erected in a spiral. 



The hill tribes of Hainan, the Philippine Islands, and the adjacent 

 mainland of Asia harvest their rice in short "hands" made up of the 

 heads plus a 6- or 8-inch portion of the stalk. These "hands" are 

 cured on a long narrow rack consisting of a row of posts set firmly 

 in the ground with slender bamboo culms bound to them in a hori- 

 zontal position at close intervals, and to a height of about 6 feet. The 

 "hands" of rice are thrust between these bars in close order and al- 

 lowed to remain there until they are thoroughly cured before being 

 removed to the granaries. A narrow thatched roof protects them 

 from rain. In the threshing, winnowing, and transportation of the 

 grain, bamboo baskets, trays, and scoops are all-important. 



Wherever the crops are of such a nature as to require protection 

 from the depredations of wild creatures, not to mention domesticated 

 carabao, pigs, and chickens, bamboo fencing comes into play. As for 

 the birds, against which fences are of no avail, scarecrows of infinite 

 variety are fashioned more or less exclusively out of bamboo. 



Against insect enemies fruit growers bring bamboo spray guns 

 into play. In the citrus groves of southern China where a certain 

 species of predaceous red ant is colonized on the trees to keep down 

 parasitic scales and other insects, bamboo poles serve as a means of 

 intertree transit for the ants. As the harvest begins to mature, bam- 

 boo poles serve as supports for overladen branches. And when the 

 fruit is ripe, it may be removed from the tree by means of bamboo 

 poles equipped in various ways. "When twigs of choice trees are in- 

 arched, small potted stock plants are held in place within the tree 

 by long bamboo stakes. 



The care, protection, and control of livestock utilizes bamboo fences 

 and shelters, feeding troughs and rearing crates, and leading staffs for 

 vicious bulls. The duckherd always carries a long-handled, soft- 

 lashed, bamboo whip with which he gently chastizes the laggards. 



In Oriental vegetable and flower gardens we find bamboo poles for 

 supporting the vines of beans and melons, and smaller stakes for other 



